Where Do You Stand At Easter In 2019 If You Don’t Believe?

April 12, 2019

This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.

“There is a green hill far away without a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified who died to save us all”.

Those are the first two lines of a hymn written by Cecil Frances before her marriage to Dr William Alexander, who later became Ireland’s Archbishop and shares the same name as my paternal Grandfather (who was a Communist).

Where Do You Stand At Easter In 2019 If You Don’t Believe?
CECIL FRANCES who wrote all things bright and beautiful

Most of the 400 poems and hymns Mrs Alexander wrote in her lifetime were intended for children ie to be direct and easily understood. Yet that engaging simplicity has caused her work to resonate with millions across time and religious divides.

She wrote “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and “Once in Royal David’s City”. Her simple poems remain as powerful today as they were when she first wrote them for her Irish Sunday school class in 1848.

But where do you stand at Easter in 2019 if you don’t believe?

It’s a bit like being Jewish at Christmas. Do you go along with it or pretend it’s just another day?

Where Do You Stand At Easter In 2019 If You Don’t Believe?
Garden easter egg hunt

My daughter’s partner has a family with a big garden and on Easter Sunday they will once again stage their annual Easter egg hunt. Before lunch adults hide the eggs and afterwards the children have fun finding them. None of them will be thinking about bloodshed and execution on a cross 2000 years ago. It’s all about chocolate – and not going to church.  

Would Mrs Alexander have been horrified by this? Perhaps, but I suspect she’d also understand that children running and laughing in the sunshine is a simple celebration of the Rite Of Spring which has been part of our world since we learned to stand upright.

As I hold my grand-daughter looking into her beautiful eyes full of wonder looking back at me, I ponder on the cycle of birth and death called life. Will I be saved? Will I go on?

The logical answer is no.

Dr Stephen Hawking was in agreement. He was in the same game as Mrs Alexander as, from his famous wheelchair, he tried to explain Black Holes in simple terms.

In his book “Brief Answers To Big Questions” there is a line that keeps coming back to me.

Where Do You Stand At Easter In 2019 If You Don’t Believe?
The Big Bang

“Something very wonderful happened at the instant of The Big Bang. Time itself began”.

His simple notion is nothing existed before that.

Nothing – including the difficult bit of any Creator.

Stephen was a brilliant theoretical physicist with a mind comparable to Einstein. He was convinced there was no God.

Burying both my parents and my only brother in a short space of time recently has focused my thoughts on this. I’ve come to the same conclusion following a bumpy journey through life.

It’s interesting how trauma and pain can turn us away from religion as much as towards it. 

I realise to express this publicly at the time of a major Christian festival is rather controversial. However I feel we must stand up for what we don’t believe as much as for what we do.

So here’s the difficult bit for me to write.

I do not believe, I have no faith and I do not go on.

I realise this from a former Head Chorister is blasphemy of the first order – but it is the case.

Now I’ve bought my ticket on the express lift to Hell, instead of greasing the rails, I thought I might apply the brake with a little explanation.

Where Do You Stand At Easter In 2019 If You Don’t Believe?
Heaven and hell

Heaven and Hell is a concept which exists in a number of religions. In medieval Europe it was used to simplify and terrify those who didn’t tow the line. Before that, the Romans and the Greeks invented a whole plethora of Gods to instil obedience into the masses beneath them.

However, what none of these rulers and lovers of control and money could deal with, is the power of Love we have for each other. I think both Cecil and Stephen would back me up on this.

What we have to do is try properly loving someone in the time we have left; that is an amazing power we all have – and there is no better time than Spring.

So when I chose the words and music for my brother Stephen’s funeral recently, I thought about how much love and laughter he’d brought into the lives of the people he’d touched.

We began with “I Vow To Thee My Country” which has a melody written by Gustav Holst from “Jupiter” his Planets Suite and spoke about how much he loved being British.

There was “Who Wants To Live Forever” by Queen and, as the family left individual white roses on his coffin, I chose the theme from “Out Of Africa” by John Barry.

Six of his friends were bearers and his daughter, best friend and I wrote and delivered our eulogies to him. We all found it a very difficult thing to do but felt we owed it to his memory to deliver – and we did. There was laughter and tears.

As the curtains closed around his coffin the theme to “Mission Impossible” played. You had to be there.

Stephen died from a fatal heart attack on a walk back to their hotel after a Valentine’s Night dinner with his partner in Zanzibar, Tanzania. He was pointing out the stars to her one moment – and then he was gone.

I’d like to tell you I chose a hymn written by Mrs Alexander but I didn’t. She thought he’d “died to save us all.”

Lots of us choose our own path now as the way we celebrate and commemorate change.

Showing Love for each other is the most powerful way.

May we all have a peaceful and Happy Easter.

Rest In Peace Stephen.

More posts from Northern Male

Get the latest ideas, advice and inspiration

No spam. Just useful and interesting stuff, straight to your inbox. Covering jobs, finance, learning, volunteering, lifestyle and more.

By providing us your email address you agree to receive emails and communications from us and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. You can unsubscribe at any time by following the link in our emails.

Enjoying Rest Less? Help us reach more people like you

Leave us a rating Want to tell us something?